Sunday, May 29, 2011

A Year in the Life of Into It. Over It.

INTO IT. OVER IT. is a one piece operation fronted by Evan Weiss. I stumbled across his record "52 Weeks" trolling around for something new and fresh and this was just what I was looking for. Weiss wrote a song a week for a year and collected them together in this 2 CD opus on life both on and off the road. Observations run the gamut from the deterioration of a relationship to what's on TV. Weiss alternates between quiter acoustic tracks and more raucous straight forward indie rock.

It's an interesting exercise that is not unlike the musical equivalent of blogging. The structure of writing a song a week leads itself to some songs that are more musical ideas than finished works. Most of the songs come in at under 3 minutes but their are hooks a plenty for all musical interests. The fire and passion on tracks like "Fak It" and "Heartificial" make for great live fodder. The simplicity of other tracks like "Introduce This To Your Parents" and "David Caruso TV" echo lo-fi acts like SEBADOH (he even titles one song "Sebadon't"). The quieter moments like the opener "Batsto" and "ATM Disaster Scenes" are more akin to someone you might hear in some out of the way coffee shop or bar. There is literally so much here that you could construct three different records depending on which songs you took.

The initial reaction is that the album would have benefited from some editing but to do that would have lost the idea. "52 Weeks" is more about the process of writing and the attempt by Weiss to encapsulate his life in song than about a record that will sell 1 million copies. I have no doubt Weiss is a talented writer and his eye is keen to observing life's little intricacies. I get the feeling if I came back and wrote about this album five more times it would still be unique. I can't wait to see what he does when he gives his songwriting some real time to grow.

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About Me

THESE ARE THE RAMBLINGS OF A FORMER COLLEGE RADIO DJ WITH A NEED TO SHARE HIS CD COLLECTION WITH THE WORLD.Comments and suggestions are encouraged. All music is for sampling purposes. If your music is up and you want it taken down please let me know.